When Kindness Makes Time

When Kindness Makes Time

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:35, NIV

My oldest “child”—a young woman who lived with my family during her last two years of high school and is now in her early twenties—is still very close to our family. We continue to have a wonderful relationship with her and are so proud of the woman she has become. She calls and texts often and will stop by on a moment’s notice. Although most of the time this is completely fine with me, there are days when my to-do list seems more important than taking the time to stop and visit. There are moments when it feels inconvenient because of my own schedule and agenda.

Here’s the deal: sometimes kindness is inconvenient. Sometimes it takes time or money or both. Sometimes it involves stopping what we are doing and intentionally being with another person. Sometimes kindness is hard because it isn’t always tangible. I can’t always cross something off my list after showing kindness.

Just this week, a group I’m a part of had a discussion about the idea of legacy and what we’d like others to say about us when we’re seventy-five years old. We all wrote down things we would want people to say about who we were, not what we did. We wanted them to say we were kind, loving, caring, good listeners—all things that involve how we treat other people. Not one of us said we hoped our friends would think we had really clean houses or manicured lawns. None of us said we wanted others to acknowledge how well we could cross things off our to-do lists, because the truth is, although tasks can certainly be important, they are not the most important thing, and they are not what we want to be remembered for.

John 13 reminds us of God’s command to love one another: this is how we’ll be known as Jesus’ disciples. It may not always be the easy choice, and it certainly may not result in us crossing something off our to-do lists, but stopping to love others is always our best choice.

—Kendra

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

When you’re faced with the choice to get something done or to stop and love someone, choose to love.